Page 122 - The Miracle in the Cell
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THE MIRACLE IN THE CELL
lar region. Special secretions called hormones help this take place,
with each hormone going to the relevant cell to transmit the message
from the brain. Once the "messenger" arrives at the cell, it transmits its
command to receptor proteins located in the cell membrane, which
then transmit the message they receive to the center of the cell, where-
upon the cell goes into action accordingly.
Can we explain a cell's ability to understand a command given
via an island of proteins located within a sea of lipids, and then trans-
mit this to the cell center, and then, this cell's obeying this command
and dedicating its life to producing a substance to be used in a place
of which the cell has no knowledge? Of course not! Moreover, as we
mentioned before, on the membrane there are hundreds of points of
entry, receptors, and controllers, all aware of each other and working
together in harmony.
Figure 6.10
Phagocytosis – a process in which macrophages reach out and swallow
many bacteria.
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